A minor body falling onto a neutron star as an explanation for the unusual gamma-ray burst GRB 101225A

TL;DR

This paper proposes that the unusual gamma-ray burst GRB 101225A can be explained by a minor body, such as a comet, being tidally disrupted and accreted onto an isolated neutron star, offering new insights into such events.

Contribution

It introduces the novel idea that minor bodies can cause gamma-ray bursts through tidal disruption around neutron stars, expanding understanding of gamma-ray burst origins.

Findings

GRB 101225A explained by minor body disruption

Minor bodies may be more common around neutron stars

Alternative explanation involving a peculiar supernova

Abstract

The tidal disruption of a solar mass star around a supermassive black hole has been extensively studied analytically and numerically. In these events the star develops into an elongated banana-shaped structure. After completing an eccentric orbit, the bound debris fall onto the black hole, forming an accretion disk and emitting radiation. The same process may occur on planetary scales, if a minor body orbits too close to its star. In the Solar System, comets fall directly onto our Sun or onto planets. If the star is a compact object, the minor body can become tidally disrupted. Indeed, one of the first mechanisms invoked to produce strong gamma-ray emission involved accretion of comets onto neutron stars in our Galaxy. Here we report that the peculiarities of the `Christmas' gamma-ray burst (GRB 101225A) can be explained by a tidal disruption event of a minor body around a Galactic isolated neutron star. This result would indicate either that minor bodies can be captured by compact stellar remnants more frequently than it occurs in our Solar System or that minor body formation is relatively easy around millisecond radio pulsars. A peculiar Supernova associated to a GRB may provide an alternative explanation.